Alegria

Alegria means happiness, but I didn't name this post just because I am happy. Alegria is the cause of my happiness! Yesterday was a very productive day. In the morning I did my dishes, cleaned my house, and did grocery shopping all before meeting Sarah, Janey, and Lyndsey. We hopped on a noon train to Seoul and after a quick bite to eat at Coex Mall we were on our way to the Big Top to see Cirque du Soleil: Alegria. I was so excited because ever since I was in Jr. High and saw Cirque du Soleil on TV I have wanted to see a live show. I was not disappointed. It was absolutely AMAZING! Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures, but if you want to see some of the unbelievable acts I saw you can search "Alegria, Cirque du Soleil" on Youtube and almost all of them come up. Some of my favorite acts were the hula hoop girl, the contortionists, the trampoline gymnasts, the high flying trapeze artists, and the Russian bars. It was so incredible to see the strength and athleticism of the performers. They were seriously better than Olympic gymnasts (0f course, they are getting paid), and many of them were really young. The music was great, too; I have been singing it all day! So...I am happy. Another one of my life goals accomplished. However, I wouldn't hesistate to accomplish that one again. :-D

Updated photo album

I ♥ my students

So, I know my last post was about school, but lately that's mostly what my life has consisted of. Besides, I can't emphasize enough how awesome my school is...the students, my colleagues, administration, everyone! This was a great week for me. I was in high spirits because I feel so comfortable and happy where I am. Swimming has been going well, and I have enjoyed getting to know more middle school students. Our first meet is December 6th and I'm so excited just to be at a meet again! On Tuesday of this week, the middle school celebrated fall by bobbing for apples. It was hiliarious; not just because of the dripping wet students but because it was so cold. It snowed a couple hours later! I have some great pics though (see link below). Even our principal did it. :-P My favorite thing about TCIS, though, is the relationships formed between the students and the teachers. You have to be so careful in the U.S., but here it is completely different. I just got back from 8th grade party. We invited the entire 8th grade class to come to one of the teacher's house for pizza and then to another teacher's house for dessert, games, and a movie. It was a blast! What a great group of kids! We ate yummy food, watched Lady in the Water, and played Uno, poker, and other card games. 30+ students came and everyone really enjoyed themselves. I think we are already planning another class party for the spring. hehe.

More school pictures--updated Nov. 22

Middle School news...read all about it!

There was a lot of excitement in the middle school this week. Of course, there is always a lot of excitement at the middle school, but this week just seemed a bit more hectic. Maybe it is partly because I was busy writing assessments and making rubrics before grades are due again on the 19th. All of my classes either took a test today or will take one on Tuesday that is different from "normal" Spanish tests.

In the midst of all that, the middle school was hit with a bout of head lice. It started when one of my students came to school Tuesday with a really severe case. That led all 6th graders to get checked, and 2 boys were sent home. The next day 7th grade was checked and yet another girl was found to have head lice. By this time I was super paranoid because 1.) all of them were my students and I only teach about 1/4 of all the students in the school and 2.) because we have been doing a clothing unit and had a fashion show this week. I brought in clothes to wear...including a sombrero (hat) and I am almost certain that the girl wore it! I was so worried that I had infected the entire 8th grade class, too. Today, however, the 8th graders got checked and no one had it. I went to have my head checked, too, just to be safe and it was all clear. Whew!

The other exciting thing about this week was that swim team started. I love coaching! The kids who signed up are so fun. I think they are really enjoying it (dying, but having fun. hehe). The other coach and I weren't sure how practice was going to go because there are over 30 kids and the pool we usually used is "under construction" (whatever that means). Anyway, we thought we were going to have to use a pool with only one lane for all the kids, but we ended up going to another one that was a little further away but gave us three lanes. It was a lot of fun and I am so excited for the season to get underway.

Mission Impossible

This weekend I met up with Bethany in Seoul and we took a four hour bus ride to Sokcho, a really nice city on the northeast coast of Korea. It was beautiful...mountains on one side, ocean on the other. I would really like to go back when it is warm and hit up the beach. Anyway, our purpose for the trip was to hike Soeraksan, the 3rd tallest mountain in Korea and supposedly the most difficult hike. We arrived in Sokcho at ~1:00 am Satuday morning and awoke at 6:00 sharp. Unfortunately it was raining...and kept raining. Since we had come so far we decided to try the climb anyway. We dressed in lots of layers and hopped on a bus to the base of the mountain (well, to the side of the closest highway). When we got to the info booth at the bottom the guy looked at us and said..."impossible." He went on to tell us that there was heavy rain, it was a difficult hike, it would take us 7 hours, that we didn't have proper gear, etc. (Sidenote: when Koreans hike you would think they were climbing Everest. They are always decked out in hiking clothes, big backpacks, and trekking sticks. hehe.) He was so concerned that he wasn't even going to let us go! We explained to him that we had come so far and that we were going to hike the mountain no matter what. After about 10 minutes we finally talked him in to letting us go by saying we were only going to go a little ways. The hike was quite intense; the first kilometer was so steep and didn't have any flat areas to even rest for a little while. Sadly, the clouds were so low that after about 15 min. we were in them and couldn't see what I'm sure were breathtaking views. We did, however, see beautiful fall colors all around us, take in lots of fresh air, and get a great workout. After 2 hours, we were halfway up the mountain we arrived at some waterfalls, the air was getting cold very quickly and the rain began to mix with snow. Not to mention that the rocks were quite slippery. Everyone coming down was warning us about the conditions ahead. We had to decide whether or not we would go to the peak and stay at the shelter, or turn around and go back to our warm hotel room. We decided for the hotel and headed back down. I definitely want to try again in better conditions.

After the hike we grabbed some lunch at went the the "bus station," which was actually a little convenience store, and waited for the 3:35 bus. At 3:30 we headed outside to the side of the highway. Buses in Korea are basically always on time so we thought it a little strange when so much time was passing without it coming. We were still damp from the hike and were freezing just waiting! Finally, one of the other girls waiting for the bus went inside and learned that the bus wasn't coming for another half hour. She and her friend, who were Korean girls about our age, flagged a taxi. We told them we were going to Sokcho too and shared a cab. Between the four of us it ended up being cheaper than taking the bus, they dropped us off right at our hotel, and we got back in 20 min. instead of 50!

On Sunday morning we wanted to get up early and watch the sunrise over the East Sea; but, we woke up and...you guessed it...RAIN! We walked to the beach anyway and took a few pics before catching the bus back to Seoul and then home. All in all it was a good trip because it was fun to hang out with Bethany. We've already made plans for her to come visit me in 3 weeks for Thanksgiving!

Pictures from Sokcho/Soeraksan (the last 30 of the album are new)

Happy Belated Pepero Day!

You are probably asking yourself, 'what the heck is Pepero day?' Well, Pepero day is this incredible marketing scheme by a Korean candy company that is celebrated by giving the chocolate-dipped sticks to other people. I guess it is kinda like Valentine's Day or something. Genius though...create a holiday that makes people buy your product. It was fun, and I received a few Peperos myself. Mmm... :-D

Two thumbs up for Tokyo!

I returned from my long-awaited trip to Tokyo yesterday, and although it involved 2 long days of travel and 3 days of meetings, it was still an awesome trip. The conference was actually really good, and I learned a lot about what I can do better to meet expectations of the MYP (Middle Years Program of the IB). We did have some time for fun though. The conference got over each day around 4. The first day, though, there was a reception for the 350 of us who were there. At the reception they had the father of one of the student's perform a tradiational noh dance. It was...interesting. Not something I would want to watch for a whole show, but I was glad to see it and experience a bit of Japanese culture.

While in the city we also saw a shrine, a palace (from the outside. It closed at 3:30 because of shortened days. :-S), Odaiba--an island district of Tokyo, Harasuka and Shibuya--two of the largest areas of Tokyo, lots of pretty parks, the Rainbow Bridge, and of course, we found some shopping areas where I bought some Japanese lanterns, a bamboo bookmark, and some socks with the big toe separate--a Japanese specialty I hear. We also ate a variety of foods while there. Japanese, of course, but also Chinese, Indonesian, Italian, and Turkish. Overall, a great trip.

I loved Japan not only because of the sites, but also because of the many cultural differences. It's even very different from Korea. First of all, they drive on the left, which completely caught me off guard. But from there, I couldn't stop taking pictures of all the fascinating things around me. There are bikes everywhere; the taxis are old models in new condition; the traffic yeilds to pedestrians; and there are metro stations every few blocks (and 3 different companies--below ground, above ground, and monorail). The food is different...but good; they use wooden chopsticks, not metal. They read from right to left, up and down, and they have 3 different writing systems. The streets are quiet and organized in a grid, and the buildings all look different (as opposed to Korea where each city has many white high-rise apartments that all look the same). The fashion is completely different; anything goes. All the girls wear boots, fuzzy sweater things, and they don't wear pants. Many of the guys carry purses. The toilet fills with water when you sit on it; however, I didn't really understand why it needed to be so full. You can drink the tap water. Even the mirror in our bathroom was even interesting! A square of it didn't fog over when you showered, so you could still see. The city itself was beautiful, but very expensive compared to Korea. And, there were lots and lots of people! It was still great, and I'm already planning a trip back to Japan in January to visit my friend from high school, Ike.

I could go on and on with stories from the weekend, but if you want more details send me an email or give me a call and I will be happy to elaborate. :) Also, check out the following pictures and videos that I've posted to facebook.

Tokyo pictures

I hope this finds you all well! I am still enjoying life here a lot. Work is going well and getting better each week. Last week we celebrated Day of the Dead and built an altar in the classroom. Returning from japan made me realize how much Korea has begun to feel like home. It felt good to return to by apartment, which btw, I just decorated it with Christmas lights today! That means only a little longer until my trip to Thailand and Alicia comes to visit me!